BFTP's 3 day workshops will engage the students of GUGCS with reusable bag making workshops that will reduce the use of plastic bags in their community.
Plastic grocery bags made from polyethylene(a derivative or petroleum) proliferate our city and natural environments. These bags litter our streets, trees, parks, and end up in our oceans, lining marine animal stomachs. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme report, Marine Litter: A Global Challenge, these bags are one of the top ten worst polluters our contemporary world has known.
The entire program is composed of three 3 day workshops; one for each class. During the first workshop day each student will learn of the issue at hand through visual aides. They will then become familiar with the sewing machines and will learn how to make a reusable bag for themselves. On the second workshop day, the students will make a surplus of reusable bags to hand out at a community business or market. The third day sees students venture out into their community to hand out their surplus of bags and interact with community members; inspiring others to stop using plastic bags.
Bags for the People will be working with the entire second grade(three classes comprised of 81 total students) of the Growing Up Green Charter School over 9 separate days this coming fall to help reduce the use of plastic bags through reusable bag making workshops. Each student will learn about the environment and the impact, positive and negative, their actions can have. The students will then learn how to sew, on sewing machines provided by Singer, reusable shopping bags out of repurposed materials. After every student has made a reusable bag for themselves, they will then sew reusable bags to hand out at a local business in their community, helping to reduce the use of plastic bags and to spread their positive environmental message.
